autorité French · revision 16976

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1119, Philippe de Thaon|origins=la auctor}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /o.tɔ.ʁi.te/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA: /ɔ.tɔ.ʁi.te/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''autorité''' ''f'' (plural autorités)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French [[m|fro|auctorité]] (1119); Palsgrave says that in the 16th century it was written ''auctorité'' and pronounced ''outorité''.^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|auctōritās|t=authority; credit, influence]],^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(GLLF 1989)^(FEW|25, 814a) from [[m|la|auctor|t=founder, guarantor; author]], the source of [[auteur]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007) The Latin noun named the quality of an author in all the senses of that word (founder, adviser, guarantor, seller, owner, author); it also meant the power to make oneself obeyed, the credit of a writer or text, and in Church Latin that of a revealed text.^(DHLF 1992) Wiktionary treats the Old French word as inherited in form but borrowed from Latin.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ Compare [[pro|auctoritat]], [[es|autoridad]] and [[it|autorità]].^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Philippe de Thaon uses ''auctorité'' in 1119;^(GLLF 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005) its first known uses are tied to the sacred texts, “a text of Scripture”.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The sense “power to make oneself obeyed” is found by 1174, and “binding force of what has been judged or decided” in the 13th century,^(DHLF 1992) when the word also meant the weight of a quoted authority, a sense kept in Spanish ''autoridad'' “model quotation”.^(DHLF 1992) In Amyot (1559) it is the esteem a person enjoys, a sign of moral superiority.^(DHLF 1992)^(BHVF)

+

+ The political sense, an organ of power, belongs to classical French (mid-17th century), and the plural ''les autorités'' for magistrates and senior officials appears in 1790 (Turgot).^(DHLF 1992) ''D'autorité'' (mid-17th century) gave the slang ''d'autor'' “necessarily” (1830).^(DHLF 1992) The derivative [[autoritaire]] (1863) was first said of political power, then of character (Zola, 1873).^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1119 – ''Auctorité'' in Philippe de Thaon.^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1174 – “Power to command”.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 13th century – Force of a judgment; of a quoted authority.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1559 – Personal credit and esteem, in Amyot.^(DHLF 1992)^(BHVF)

+ * Mid-17th century – An organ of power, ''d'autorité''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1790 – ''Les autorités'', in Turgot.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1830 – Slang ''d'autor''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1863 – ''Autoritaire''.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|authority|alt=Authority]], the right or power to command and be obeyed: ''autorité parentale'', ''avoir autorité sur quelqu'un''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A body or person holding power, ''les autorités'', the authorities.^(Wiktionary)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # Personal ascendancy, the [[m|en|prestige]] that makes others defer: ''faire autorité'', to be authoritative.^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''D'autorité'': on one's own authority, without consulting anyone.^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''Argument d'autorité'': an [[m|en|argument from authority]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[autoritaire]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[autoriser]]

+ * [[auteur]]

+ * [[la|auctoritas]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}